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“Everybody thinks I’m like you now!” I flinched at her words, and a fleeting look of regret crossed her face. “One night. That’s it.”
“And you won’t tell anyone you saw us?”
“I have to live here, Margo. I can’t just move away, so no, I’m not planning on telling anyone I spoke to you, never mind helped you. Just… head over to the cottage. I’ll go home and take the key and bring it to you.” She walked around us, giving us a wide berth.
“That was intense.” Dorian watched her leave. “Do you trust her?”
“I used to. Don’t have much of a choice now. Besides, if she rats us out, you’ll hear anyone coming, right?” I cast one last look after Eva then shivered. “Come on. Watch your step. It gets dark out here.”
He smirked. “Werewolf vision, remember?”
“Yeah, yeah. It’ll take her at least an hour to get home and back to the cottage. We might as well go there now and hang around outside. We’re less likely to be seen.”
The local shop had already closed up for the day, so we headed to the cottage with a couple of sandwiches we had bought at the train station.
“It’s gonna be a cold night,” I commented.
“You don’t seem concerned.”
“At least we’re safe here.”
“Sorry.”
I looked at him in surprise.
“Sorry that you had to leave here,” he clarified.
“I’mnot, not anymore. That thing you said about me putting people off. That happened back there, didn’t it? With Eva, I mean.”
“Maybe,” he said. “And maybe you could learn to control it.”
“Harbinger means omen, Dorian. That sounds bad. Think it’s hereditary? I mean, do you think my biological mother was like me? Or do you think she got rid of me because I’m like this.”
“How could she tell you’d grow up like this unless she knew about this stuff? Besides, your parents know that you sleepwalk and stuff, and they don’t care, right?”
“I wonder if there’s anything they’re keeping from me,” I said slowly. “I should have talked to them before I left.”
“We didn’t have time.”
“I know. We had to leave. What else could we do?” I glanced at him in the darkness. He hadn’t fumbled once. I was used to the way, and I had. “You’re really a werewolf? You’re not mental or joking or showing off?”
“You sound like you’re hoping I’m mental,” he said drily. “What I’ve told you is true, and if you want, I’ll prove it to you.”
I stared at my feet as we walked. I wanted to believe I wasn’t the only one who was weird. I wanted to feel less alone. But if I believed in him, then I’d have to believe what he thought about me, and I wasn’t entirely ready for that. “I don’t think Ms. Rivers would let them hurt you.”
“She wouldn’t, but then she could get in the way.” He sounded pained. “I can’t let her get hurt. Not after everything she’s done for me. I’ve never had anyone who wanted me around, Margo. Nathan and Perdita… they didn’t have to look after me, but they did. They were young, full of plans they gave up, for me. And this is how I pay them back. With trouble.”
“You could call them. Maybe they could calm the others down.”
“Ican’t,” he said plaintively. “I turned my back on them. If they didn’t hate me before, they probably do now.”
“Because of me?”
“Not just you. Everything’s complicated,” he said. “It’s instinct more than a decision. You’re a good person. I know you are, but I chose you over the pack. Some people will never forgive me for that, so it’s best I don’t force Perdita and Nathan to get in the middle. It would be easier for them if I just disappeared.”
His voice cracked, and a pang struck my heart. I couldn’t bring myself to believe the people who cared for him would rather if he wasn’t around.
The further we moved from the village, the darker it became. Even the stars were barely visible, covered by cloud. Without light to guide me, I ended up relying on Dorian’s sure step to stay on my feet. I’d half-forgotten how dark it could get, and I wasn’t sure I liked it.
